DEPUTIES MAKE SPECIAL DELIVERY

A gas station parking lot in Oakland Park became a delivery room and two BSO deputies played doctor Wednesday night when an impatient baby girl decided to make her debut.

Deputy Zack Scott was on routine patrol during the last few minutes of his shift, driving westbound on Oakland Park Boulevard at about 10:30 p.m., when a woman driving a mini-van flagged him down. The driver, Nilda Irizarry, 49, said that her daughter was going into labor inside the vehicle. Dep. Scott directed her to stop and park in the Amoco station parking lot at Oakland Park Boulevard and NW 9th Avenue.

As Dep. Scott began to approach the minivan the woman screamed that the baby was coming. The deputy got to the van just in time to grasp the infant as it was born. Dep. Scott placed the baby girl on her mother’s stomach and ran to his patrol car to fetch a disposable blanket.

Irizarry then began to scream that the baby was not breathing. BSO Sgt. Patrick Murray arrived at that point and examined the infant, noticing immediately that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, preventing her from breathing. Sgt. Murray quickly unwrapped the cord and cleared the baby’s airway. Moments later, she began to cry. Sgt. Murray then wrapped the infant and Dep. Scott reassured Irizarry and the new mother, Lisette Lopez, 24, that they both would be fine. Paramedics arrived and transported them to Holy Cross Hospital.

The baby weighed in at five pounds, four ounces and was subsequently named “Nevaeh,” which is heaven spelled backwards. Nevaeh and Lopez were both doing well this afternoon and reportedly plan to visit BSO’s District 12 substation in Oakland Park when they’re released from the hospital.

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